City Police Promote 3 Sergeants To Lieutenant

Changes in the operation of the Bethlehem Police Department continued yesterday with the promotion of three veteran sergeants to the newly created rank of lieutenant.

The promotions of Sgts. Eugene Learn, William Cooke Sr. and Robert Freed to lieutenant were announced by Mayor Ken Smith and Police Commissioner Thomas P. Murphy before a gathering of about 30 police officers and family members in the squad room of police headquarters. Also during the 30-minute ceremony, Officer Frank Jordan was promoted to sergeant and two new officers were sworn in by Smith.

The purpose of the new posts, said Smith, is to return "high-ranking officers to the street" and raise the sense of safety and security among residents of Bethlehem, where major crime jumped 4.6 percent last year.

"We can equate this move to the return of the foot patrol," Smith said, referring to the city's recently announced plan to have officers patrol certain neighborhoods on foot, beginning in April, for the first time in 12 years.

The new lieutenants will wield supervisory power and work chiefly between 4 p.m. and 8 a.m., thereby covering some shifts when a command officer is off duty, police officials said.

The lieutenants will patrol the city in cruisers as part of their duties, Murphy said, while Smith indicated that they will be empowered to make decisions affecting the entire department in the absence of a command officer.

Creation of the three lieutenant posts stems from an attempt to bolster the "team policing" approach Bethlehem has used since 1976. Under that system, the city is carved geographically into three areas patroled by officers grouped into teams called Adam, Baker and Charlie. However, the new lieutenants will be assigned on a citywide basis, not individually to any one team, officials said.

Smith said in a prepared statement at the ceremony that he and Murphy had discussed the merits and disadvantages of "team policing" and concluded that it warrants fine-tuning rather than dismantlement and conversion to another form of police coverage.

"I think the changes are for the better," Smith said. He said assigning high-ranking officers to street duty, coupled with the foot-patrol concept, will increase the visibility of the department in the eyes of residents and merchants.

"On an ongoing basis," said the mayor, "our Police Department really represents the city of Bethlehem . . . in a wonderful way."

Murphy and Smith said after the ceremony that further major changes are not anticipated at the moment, although the mayor did say in his statement that a study of options would continue.

Said Murphy, "We'll wait to see how this goes. We'll be doing an evaluation after this goes into effect."

The lieutenants are to begin their duties April 4. The foot patrols, earmarked for the North Side business district and the South Side, are to begin on a trial basis April 1.

Murphy said he expects the changes to improve the efficiency of the department, adding: "I can't overemphasize that our supervisors are working supervisors." Among the duties of supervisors throughout the department, Murphy said, are answering calls and backing up officers on patrol.

Police promotions are an important motivational tool, Murphy said. "Promotion to a higher rank is one of the most important incentives," he said. "So, we will continue to keep the ranks open for men to look forward to."

Police promotions also rank among the more pleasurable aspects of his job, Smith told the officers. "It's a lot better than potholes and sinkholes," the mayor joked.

Of the three new lieutenants, Freed has served the longest with the department, with 25 years. He has been serving with the department's Adam Team, which covers the city's West Side.

Cooke has been with the department 22 years, serving most recently in the training, planning and research branch of the Central Services Division.

Learn, an 18-year veteran, has been serving in the traffic bureau.

Jordan has been with the department 12 1/2 years. Most recently, he has been an acting detective with Baker Team, which covers Northeast Bethlehem.

Sworn in yesterday were David Cimera and Thomas Miller. Their assignments are pending.

Cimera, 23, a Bethlehem native, previously worked for Moravian College police and Fountain Hill police. He is a graduate of Moravian College, where he earned a degree in criminal justice, and of the Allentown Police Academy. He and his wife, Susan, live in Bethlehem.

Miller, 30, is a native of Allentown, where he still lives. He holds an associate degree in criminal justice from Lehigh County Community College. Miller has worked as a security officer, as well as a printer for Brown Printing, East Greenville, and as a laborer for Bethlehem Steel Corp.

By hiring Cimera and Miller, the city filled the two vacancies created by the deaths of officers Leonard Jordan and his wife Cindy. The couple died earlier this month from injuries received in an off-duty two-car accident in East Allen Township.